Tag: synod

Gratitude, Celebration and Going on Pilgrimage

We gathered last Thursday evening with a dozen marvelous Synod Animators to offer gratitude and celebrate the milestone of turning in our official listening synthesis! With over 350 consultations and nearly 9,000 people engaged – we reflected on what it is to bring forward our loaf, to trust that it is enough, and to believe […]

The Spirit is poured out on all flesh 

Catholicism can feel like a locked room. As if there is one way to be a disciple, to practice and live the faith. There was a period in my faith journey where Catholicism felt like a rigid set of prescriptions and judgments. But the grace of salvation, the meaning of Pentecost, is that God breaks […]

A year-end Discerning Deacons examen

A year ago we (Casey Stanton and Ellie Hidalgo) and Luke Hansen were in the midst of shepherding and participating in a virtual retreat/workshop: discern, dream and scheme. In the center of this Advent time of reflecting, praying, journaling – we were invited to dream.  How might we grow the conversation and serve the discernment […]

Forming ourselves for courageous conversations

In the last two weeks I have attended synodal listening sessions at two local parishes in Miami. It’s been fun to meet new people in my community and delve into deeper conversations about our joys and concerns with the Catholic Church as well as our hopes for what a more synodal, listening, participatory, inclusive Church […]

Sharing the fruits from our season of listening

“A Church that teaches must be firstly a Church that listens.” Pope Francis Discerning Deacons has responded to Pope Francis’ call for a synodal church. During the summer of 2021, more than 1,500 Catholics from Canada, India and the United States gathered via video conference and in-person to actively discern the question of women and […]

Be Thou Opened

A reflection prepared for Immaculate Conception Parish, Durham NC Offered on September 5, 2021 || The Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time by Casey Stanton   The Jesus of Mark’s Gospel doesn’t come to play. His mission is urgent and told at a breakneck speed. By Chapter 2, he can’t go anywhere without  the crowds pressing […]